Political Quotes

“I could see that we both--the Presiding Officer and I-- were riveted by Senator Murkowski and her remarks for a reason. Her remarks were truly inspiring. I will just say I think the Senate needed to hear Senator Murkowski's remarks, and I think that is why the Senator from North Dakota, and all of us, were listening so carefully. I just want to highlight some of what Senator Murkowski said. The bill we are considering now is pretty much the platonic ideal for consensus legislation. It pretty much follows the kind of rules Senator Enzi and Senator Kennedy used to talk about--that wonderful 80-20 rule. I remember Senator Enzi talking to me about how they would try to agree on 80 percent but may not agree on 20 percent. The Shaheen-Portman legislation has the Kennedy-Enzi type of principle, where 80 percent of it is common ground that makes sense, doesn't have any mandates, uses the private sector, and focuses on efficiency which creates jobs. Frankly, around the world, some of the other countries try to get ahead by paying people low wages. We are trying to get ahead with legislation such as this, so we can wring more value out of the American economy and save money for businesses and consumers. I think Senator Shaheen and Senator Portman are going to talk more about the 3 years they put into meeting that kind of Kennedy-Enzi principle of good government and finding common ground.…”